Incorporating cultural heritage with urban streetscapes.

At the outset of Auckland Transport's proposed $40 million Dominion Road upgrade, a collaborative design process evolved that saw the area’s rich cultural heritage woven into the project design.

Five iwi – Te Akitai, Ngati Tamaoho, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Ngati Maru and Nga-ti Whatua – came together and agreed an approach to inform the project design. The iwi, together with a group of Maori specialists, worked with the Boffa Miskell urban design and landscape architecture project team.

Through walking the site together and a series of design workshops, a shared understanding and set of ideas was developed that could give form, convey meaning and show respect to the values of the site and surrounding landscape.

Boffa Miskell developed site-wide design strategies under the three themes iwi had identified at their hui: maunga and the surrounding landscape, vegetation, and water.

Location

Auckland

Worked with

Charmaine Weepo
Hana Mihi
Lucie Rutherford
Malcolm Paterson

Project date

2012

Awards

Category Finalist | Te Karanga o te Tui | NZILA Resene Pride of Place Landscape Architecture Awards

Conceptual ‘cultural footprint’ designs demonstrate how the strategies could be implemented for key places such as the three main villages along Dominion Road, bus interchanges, side streets, parks and thresholds.

Traditional designs and stories are referenced in many design elements, and ideas for acknowledging and enhancing the underlying natural environment developed through proposed stream daylighting and widening, stormwater treatment projects, stream restoration and urban wetlands.

As part of the Ngā Maunga me nga whenua tata (Maunga and the Surrounding Landscape) theme, two design motifs were conceived:

  • Whākiri weaving designs - Woven mats have a universal symbolic meaning of welcome and hospitality;
  • The native bird narrative - The landscape that Dominion Road traverses once contained thriving habitats for native bird life including kererū, kākā and tūī.

Ngā Hua whenua (Vegetation) theme was expressed by a proposed planting palette of native trees and ground level species to connect the current urban landscape with the former natural landscape, provide a distinct character, and positively contribute to improving the environment, water, habitat potential and quality of natural resources.

The strategy around Ngā Wai (Water) sought to improve the status quo of water quality management along Dominion Road. The plan identified locations for specific intervention and opportunities, along with detailed rationale for including water as a priority in the design.

Our landscape architects worked with mana whenua and the wider project team to develop the Hinaki Bridge concept design. The design references the woven flax eel traps used by Māori in the creek.

The bridge shows the craftsmanship of traditional Maori weaving patterns for eel traps traditionally used along Oakley Creek, reinterpreted into modern steel fabrication. The bridge also showcases the cultural story of Tuna Roa.